# CalTopo: Backcountry Mapping — user reviews > 127 indexed App Store user reviews of CalTopo by CalTopo LLC, rated 4.80/5 from 7,347 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/caltopo-backcountry-mapping/id1460038458/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/caltopo-backcountry-mapping/id1460038458.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 6,555 · 4★ 528 · 3★ 124 · 2★ 38 · 1★ 102 ## What do users think of CalTopo? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Powerful mapping features - 💡 Extensive data layers - 👍 Detailed trail and terrain information - 👍 Useful for SAR operations - 👍 Great for planning outdoor adventures **Cons** - 🐛 Buggy and unstable mobile app - 🐛 Maps not always loading properly - 🐛 Slow map rendering - 🔋 High battery consumption - 👎 Difficult to use for casual users **Commonly reported bugs** - Trails and tracks disappearing - Coordinate display issues - Frequent app crashes and freezes - Incompatibility with older devices **Most requested features** - Add 3D map view - Implement route snapping to trails - Improve offline map download capabilities - Add photo geotagging functionality - Implement course-up map orientation ## Newest reviews (12 of 127) ### 3/5 — Map frequently crashing and resetting *2026-06-14, version 1.26.2* The maps is generally usably, however I've noticed it crashing and resetting map when changing the sentinel weekly overlay visibility while on 3d mode. I've also experienced this when toggling slope angle shading on. I'm on iPhone 14 Pro, an I running out of RAM? ### 4/5 — The Crosshairs suck *2026-06-12, version 1.26.2* This is a great application, I especially like the slope contrast colors so you can instantly get an idea how steep a slope is. But, for some reason the crosshairs that tell you where something/you are at, are so ridiculously small and thin that you can’t really see them unless you stop and try really hard for a while - and you need to only be doing this when you are hiding in some shade (otherwise you will never see them if you are out in the sun). It makes it hard to use the map to see where you are or where something is, which is kind of the entire point of a map application. You would think they would have a way to make the crosshairs nice and big and bold and obvious or some other color or something, but nope. ### 3/5 — Lots of features, doesn’t handle large datasets, poor UX, & buggy *2026-05-12* Update: already documented the issue throughly on the forum and created tickets for the others. Have some that are years old at this point. Keep have to restarting the app when using offline every 10-15 minutes, unintuitive downloading of layers, obvious tiling bugs on things like sun/shade layers, unresponsive with ~1k waypoints and recommended workarounds are massively tedious. Geared for single map SAR use and heavily planned routes. I keep trying caltopo wanting to like it but bounce off. :( **Developer response:** The offline behavior you described does not sound like the expected behavior. Please send us an email at help@caltopo.com so we can dig more into it as well as address some of the other issues you described. ### 3/5 — Lots of features, doesn’t handle large datasets, poor UX, & buggy *2026-04-20, version 1.25.4* Keep have to restarting the app when using offline every 10-15 minutes, unintuitive downloading of layers, obvious tiling bugs on things like sun/shade layers, unresponsive with ~1k waypoints and recommended workarounds are massively tedious. Geared for single map SAR use and heavily planned routes. I keep trying caltopo wanting to like it but bounce off. :( ### 4/5 — Melhoria *2026-03-07* O aplicativo é muito bom, no entanto pode melhorar com a disponibilidade do mapa de satélite para uma melhor funcionalidade **Developer response:** We do have several satellite map layers available, some are not available on the free account. Please email us at help@caltopo.com with questions. ### 3/5 — Add Picture click option in waypoint *2026-01-18, version 1.24.2* Although it is good app but need some updated map version like google earth and add pics click option in waypoint. Will help ### 5/5 — Go-to mapping app *2026-01-06, version 1.24* Me and my friends all use Caltopo for planning climbing, backcountry skiing, and trail running trips. Easy offline usage and a great web mapping system make it the right choice for backcountry use ### 5/5 — Excellent tool *2025-10-08, version 1.22* Love the versatility of this application for managing timber stands to burn units. ### 5/5 — Accurate on Ground and in the Air *2025-09-02, version 1.21* Verde Search & Rescue’s primary mapping system for ground ops. We also use in SAR aircraft and drones with great results. ### 5/5 — Nerd ski stuff *2025-08-16* Very good tools for skiing and hiking with flexibility to import data from multiple sources, share maps, add photos or whatever. Not as “cool” looking as other maps and there might be a single feature (mapped avy danger) CT doesn’t have, but guessing it will be available as a layer at some point or some dork will figure it out and make it available. **Developer response:** Thanks for the 5 star review! If you have any questions email us at help@caltopo.com. ### 2/5 — Doesn’t update maps *2025-08-14, version 1.21* Whenever I open a map, the app just goes to the last place I was on the map, not the location of the map I’m using. App has a very poor interface. ### 5/5 — Snapping on mobile finally! *2025-07-21, version 1.20.4* Thank you for adding the Snap To feature in the mobile version! This is so helpful! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Requires Account Creation *2026-07-23, version 1.28* I hate this timeline. Edit: I got a reply from the developer explaining that they will soon offer caltopo account creation in addition to signing in with Google, Facebook, or other gross corporations. I feel misunderstood here. I hate having to sign in at all. They made a good stab at PR, but everyone knows signing into hundreds of different services sucks. My one star review stands. ### 1/5 — Requires Account Creation *2026-07-10, version 1.27.1* I hate this timeline. ### 1/5 — iOS is CalTopo’s lowest priority *2026-06-23, version 1.26.2* I’ve been using CalTopo since long before they created an app. It let me do things on a non-mobile no other mapping software can. I’ve been a subscriber for years. No more. This app is garbage. If you need view-only access to your map library, it’s okay. If you’re actually making changes or re-planning what you’re going to hike/bike/paddle/whatever each day, you’ll pull your hair out. All feature development is targeted at their web version. iOS is a buggy afterthought. Even Android has closer feature parity. Change can be good, but when it introduces bugs and they refuse to fix those bugs, you’ve got decay. Unfortunately, this app has crossed my personal threshold. Here’s a shortlist of issues, much of which I’ve reported: 1) background location doesn’t work. They’re using too many resources and iOS is evicting them to save user battery (something it only does in extreme circumstances). Rather than fixing their problem, they post a “doesn’t work in low power mode” dialog. No other gps tracking software needs this dialog, CalTopo is just that embarrassing 2) related to this, when the app is killed by iOS (and not the user), it loses its mind. Expect to launch to a blank loading screen. You’ll need to force-quit or close and reload your map to get functionality again 3) no bulk edits. Managing a weeks-long trip and want to organize it better? Tough. Edit each and every waypoint manually (5 taps each) 4) disorganized export. If you want to sync data to an external device, good luck! That folder organization you just wasted your time on isn’t honored by the export pane. Every single waypoint out of possibly thousands is shown even for folders you’ve hidden. 5) corrupted imports. Yup, CalTopo (across platforms) doesn’t sanitize data. If you import perfectly function geojson that just doesn’t happen to use values CalTopo expects, you can end up with a corrupted map with items you can’t delete or even view properly 6) doesn’t honor visibility settings. On desktop and Android, labels are shown or not shown based on a folder setting. iOS doesn’t honor this 7) un-tappable POIs. The icon size you can set is below what CalTopo’s software understands how to let you tap. Since icon size is largely independent of viewport, you can’t even zoom in to fix this. Combine this with the always hidden labels and you can accidentally set yourself up with a map that is unusable on mobile 8) utterly broken caching. Been using weekly imagery to negotiate a tricky section of your adventure? I hope you aren’t traveling past cell coverage. This data is never cached. The second the app is exited (see above for how comment this is), you’ve lost your tool. Screenshots are about the only way around this 9) custom icons only work online. If your data set was imported from kml, you’re likely to have “custom” icons that point to Google’s servers. These also aren’t cached at all, meaning you’ll have a lot of [ ? ] icons all over your map. 10) broken offline tile management. The benefit of CalTopo is supposed to be its layer system. The problem is the lack of granularity on their caching tool. You can add layers one by one just fine, but you can’t remove them. If you’re trying to manage space on your device by removing the more detailed layers from early days in your trip while still retaining the base map, tough, you can’t. Delete is an all or nothing tool. This is extra fun because 11) CalTopo backs up their maps in your iOS backups. Yup. A properly functioning product would only back up your intentions (ie your data) and then redownload their tiles when needed (ie their data). Imagine if Netflix backed up offline movies to your iCloud account. You’d be pretty mad that your backup is taking so long, right? I’m going to stop now because very few people are going to read this far (and CalTopo has already shown they don’t care by not fixing a single bug in years). Thanks for reading. I hope you are able to find software that actually works for you. CalTopo crossed my personal threshold for mismanagement when they decided to raise prices on me while I was on an expedition. ### 1/5 — Sucky interface *2026-05-08, version 1.26* Title says it all, nothing is easy or intuitive. Trying to download layers is a pain. ### 1/5 — Click bait *2026-04-28, version 1.26* I've used Caltopo on my laptop so I figured I'd try it on the iPhone. Screen mostly blank white. I probably need to pay, which I definitely am not doing until I see it actually works when I am away from a major road. ### 1/5 — Junk. *2026-04-08* Genuinely cannot see why anyone would use this app. It simply won’t work. I paid for a subscription, followed the instructions online, imported all of my tracks and markers from other navigation apps, and yet I cannot save my own maps or download offline layers. **Developer response:** Please send us an email at help@caltopo.com so we can help. ### 1/5 — Empty maps *2026-01-03, version 1.24* How does it work? Clicked every button - not working map, just white screen. Useless… ### 1/5 — LITERALLY DOESNT LOAD *2025-10-08* THIS APP WONT LOAD. NEVER. **Developer response:** Sorry to hear you are experiencing this. Please send us an email at help@caltopo.com ### 1/5 — Misleading *2025-03-15, version 1.17.1* The layers you're allowed to download after you've paid aren't the same ones you can see and customize in the app. It's a completely different interface from the main app view. Not cool. ### 1/5 — Lousy log in *2024-11-08, version 1.14.4* You must use a third party login to use it. Either Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, or Yahoo. Of course they do. There is no such thing as a free lunch, or app. You pay for it in lack of privacy and your personal information being sold and shared. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — You get a lot for nothing!! *2026-08-13, version 1.28.1* This map is great. So many options for tools, views, importing, topography, etc. I can’t believe that there is a free version with this many tools. I love that companies still exist that don’t want to just gouge your money. ### 5/5 — Great Topo Map *2026-07-01, version 1.27* I love how easy it is to mark up a map or see what the elevation is an any point. ### 5/5 — The way to go *2026-06-04* I’ve used half a dozen different mapping apps over the years as a professional mt guide and SAR specialist. CalTopo has steadily improved since it came into the scene and is now the gold standard. Keep up the refinements! **Developer response:** Thanks for the kind words! Our goal is to keep improving the app and that means a lot to us. Thanks for using CalTopo! ### 5/5 — Game Changer *2026-05-13, version 1.26* My team uses CalTopo for search and rescue operations and it’s an invaluable tool. We use it on every operation. ### 5/5 — Alaska Pacific University OS Grad *2026-05-06, version 1.26* One of my absolute favorite classes at APU was risk management for outdoor professionals. We were required to get a subscription service route plane navigation app and CalTopo does not disappoint! Learning to identify hazards and areas of interest, among a myriad of other great features. Thanks for creating an amazing app! ### 5/5 — Excelente app *2026-03-30, version 1.25.4* Como aficionada al trekking, esta app me ayuda mucho a preparar mis rutas. Es muy fácil de usar, y de alguna forma, me permite coordinar con cuidado y tiempo todo lo que necesito. ### 5/5 — The Best *2026-03-02, version 1.24.6* Probably the best backcountry mapping app available for US. Can do everything you need, has a good web/PC interface as well as a good mobile app. Extremely useful for trip planning. I’ve used it in CA, WA, Japan, Italy. Never going back to Gaia. ### 5/5 — Fantastic for SAR *2026-02-24, version 1.24.6* Our SAR team started using CalTopo and it’s great. I now use it on personal trips. All the information available in one place makes this app an easy to use one stop shop! ### 5/5 — Best navigation app *2026-02-13, version 1.24.5* Best navigation platform bar none. Nothing even comes close. It’s great for hikers, backpackers, SAR, hunting. Anything you’d want in a navigation tool. ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2026-01-07, version 1.24* Excellent. Highly recommended for trip planning --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*